enews 2011 1

Transcription

enews 2011 1

The No Kill Advocate
A No Kill nation is within our reach
No Kill Conference 2011
L
ast year’s No Kill Conference was
the sold-out, must-attend event
of the year. And we are doing it
again! Registration is now open for No
Kill Conference 2011.
The No Kill Advocacy Center is
teaming up with the Animal Law
program at George Washington
University Law School and the No Kill
Nation to bring together the nation’s
most successful shelter directors and
the nation’s top animal lawyers. They
will show you how to create a No Kill
community and teach you how to use
the legal system to save the lives of
animals.
Learn from animal control/shelter
directors who are now saving over
90% of all animals using the building
blocks to No Kill success—
programs and services that
have saved lives in both
urban and rural
communities—to increase
adoptions, reduce length of
stay, increase redemption
rates, rehabilitate animals,
and much more.
Learn from animal law
experts who have
challenged our legal system
to help animals: Whether
it’s drafting model laws,
fighting breed specific
legislation, filing impact
legislation, or protecting
condemned dogs, learn how
to use the legal system to
save the lives of animals.
Issue #1 2011
Learn from activists fighting
entrenched and regressive shelters in
their own community as they show
you how to launch successful
campaigns for reform.
The only national conference that says
we can and must stop the killing and
we can and must do it today.
Join No Kill advocates nationwide at
this ground-breaking event. A No Kill
nation is within our reach!
What: No Kill Conference 2011
When: July 30 - July 31, 2011
Where: Washington DC
Register: www.nokillconference.org
Please note: Last year's conference sold
out months in advance. If you are
considering attending, do not delay. Once
sold out, there are no waiting lists and no
exceptions.
What’s New in 2011
"Amazing!" "This was the best
conference I have ever attended!"
“It was one of the best experiences I've
had in animal rescue. To see so many with
the same passion that I have which I
didn't think was possible - was
wonderful.”
approach to help get your shelter to
98% in her first workshop. Her second
workshop will cover the details, the
"how to."
Want to learn how to get a law passed
to reform your shelter or close down
markets for puppy mills? Attorney
Kate Neiswender, the former chief of
staff for Senator Tom Hayden of
California, will present a workshop on
doing just that. Everything from how
to write a law, how to navigate the
political process, finding a legislative
sponsor, testifying at hearings,
overcoming opposition, and more.
Other workshops include:
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L
ast year’s No Kill Conference was
great. This year’s will be even
better, with new and more
workshops, and new and more
speakers.
Austin Pets Alive, for example, saves
and finds homes for thousands of sick,
injured, unweaned, and traumatized
animals ever year. Learn how they do
it and how you can to. APA's Dr. Ellen
Jefferson will be leading a workshop at
the No Kill Conference on "Innovation
in Saving Lives."
The Longmont Humane Society’s
Aimee Sadler says 98% of all dogs
entering shelters are savable. And she
would challenge any shelter that
thinks they have left no stone
unturned at less than that. She'll lead
two workshops at No Kill Conference
2011. She will give you the overall
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Turbocharging Pet Adoptions
Turbocharging “Pit Bull”
Adoptions
No Kill Animal Control
The 90% Club
Shelter Medicine for NonVeterinarians
Saving Shelter Cats
Saving Community Cats
Using Technology to Save Lives
Leadership
Shelter Enrichment for Dogs
Harnessing Community
Compassion
Overcoming Internal Obstacles
to Success
How to Build a Membership
Program and Raise Funds
Getting More Media
Innovative Shelter Design
Innovation in Saving Lives
Legislating No Kill
Litigating No Kill
Rethinking Pit Bulls
And more…
www.nokillconference.org
© 2011. All Rights Reserved
www.nokilladvocacycenter.org
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No Kill Conference 2010
From left to right, top to bottom: The George Washington University Law School, lunch at the
conference, the Honorable Micah Kellner talks about Oreo’s Law, speaker Brent Toellner of Kansas
City Dog Advocates listens to his fellow speakers, an attendee reads Irreconcilable Differences
during a break, Sara Elliott of the Royal New Zealand SPCA shares their No Kill success, Mitch
Schneider of Washoe County Regional Animal Services explains how his agency got to a 90% save
rate, attendees listen to speakers, Susanne Kogut of the Charlottesville SPCA says “patience is not
a virtue when animals are being killed,” while fellow 90% Club speakers Bonney Brown of the
Nevada Humane Society and Schneider listen on, and Animal Ark’s Mike Fry talks about using
technology to save lives. For more, go to www.nokilladvocacycenter.org.
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No Kill Advocates Honored
T
he top companion animal
activists were awarded the No
Kill Advocacy Center’s Henry
Bergh Leadership Award, for
unwavering commitment to ending the
systematic killing of animals in
shelters. Five recipients share the
honor.
The recipients are:
The Honorable Micah Kellner, New
York State Assembly Member, who
fought to reform New York State
shelters in order to save the lives of
tens of thousands of animals every
year. He also fought to protect the
First Amendment rights of shelter
volunteers.
Kelly Jedlicki, Shelby County No Kill
Mission, who helped create Kentucky’s
first No Kill community in Shelby
County. In 2010, Jedlicki worked
tirelessly to maintain its No Kill status
for a second straight year despite
significant challenges.
Jane Pierantozzi, Faithful Friends of
Delaware, spearheaded the nation’s
most progressive shelter reform
leg0islation, the Delaware Companion
Animal Protection Act.
Mitch Schneider, Washoe County
Regional Animal Services, not only
shepherded Washoe County to a 95%
rate of lifesaving despite a significant
economic downturn, he worked to
export that success to other
communities.
Robyn Kippenberger, Royal New
Zealand SPCA, is leading a nationwide
campaign to make New Zealand the
world’s first No Kill nation. She is the
first international recipient of the
award.
About Henry Bergh: Henry Bergh was
a 19th Century animal advocate who
launched the humane movement in
North America. He gave the first
speech on animal protection in the
U.S., incorporated the nation’s first
SPCA, and enforced anti-cruelty laws
with passion. Every night, Bergh
would patrol the streets of his native
New York City looking for animals in
need of protection.
Upon his death, the poet Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow wrote of him:
Among the noblest of the land;
Though he may count himself the
least;
That man I honor and revere;
Who, without favor, without fear;
In the great city dares to stand;
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The friend of every friendless beast.
To those who opposed Bergh’s
attempts at saving the lives of
animals, he was known as “The Great
Meddler.” The recipients epitomize the
unwavering commitment of Bergh to
save lives, even in the face of criticism
and opposition.
Past winners include Bonney Brown of
the Nevada Humane Society, Ryan
Clinton of FixAustin, and Susanne
Kogut of the Charlottesville SPCA.
Q&A with the RNZSPCA’s
Chief of Saving Lives
Robyn Kippenberger is the first
international recipient of the No Kill
Advocacy Center’s Henry Bergh
Leadership Award. As the National
Chief Executive of the Royal New
Zealand SPCA, she has one simple
goal: make New Zealand the world’s
first No Kill nation. Here’s what she
had to say about her goal, the award,
and what the future holds.
H
ow did you become involved in
animal welfare and the No Kill
movement?
My passion and ethics came from my
mother who raised me on a diet of
animal welfare literature and who
passed on her high level of empathy
for all animals – not just our cats and
dogs but mice, rats and rabbits and
farm animals too.
Then, while serving as a minister in
our New Zealand Government from
1996 to 1999, I sat on the Primary
Production (Agriculture and Fisheries)
Select Committee through many
animal related Bills including our
present 1999 Animal Welfare Bill.
I was invited to apply for the SPCA
CEO position by a recruitment agency,
was chosen and appointed at the end
of 2004, and have been the SPCA
National CEO for the past 6 years.
This includes responsibility for 48
regional branches of the New Zealand
SPCA.
Our euthanasia/kill rate nationally was
above 60% then with some centres
killing as many as 87% of their intake
of animals – a great shock to me as I
was under the impression that the
SPCA saved animals! I can remember
that my first address to our National
Conference – less than 4 months after
taking up my role – was informing the
assembled attendees that this needed
to be addressed immediately. I don’t
think it was a very well received
presentation!
What are some of your accomplishments from this past year that led to
your being chosen for this honor?
The first of our SPCAs [have] reduced
their kill rate into the 20s – and some
to mini single figures!!!! Two centres
have zero euthanasia.
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We added “Every life is precious” as
the byline so that they considered
every animal – even the tiniest kitten,
the fiercest- looking pit bull or the
wildest feral cat – and really made the
best attempt to save it…
And it had to be a nationwide
campaign so that everyone was
coordinated in their efforts
We do a lot of swapping of animals
from one SPCA to another to give the
animals the best chance of adoption.
We have done all of this in a falling
economy – a challenge on top of the
radical change in culture we are
asking of our SPCAs.
Tell us about the nationwide campaign
to make New Zealand the first No Kill
country.
It’s called Saving Lives – No Kill has a
connotation in New Zealand – we have
been fed the usual about no kill
centres – “they are not open access –
that would never work for us because
we have to take all animals”, “they kill
animals anyway and don’t count
them”, “it won’t work here because…”
We wanted to avoid that initial easy
dismissal by putting our own ‘stamp’
on the campaign making it impossible
to deny. Do they really want to say
they don’t want to save lives?!
We have a national memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with a very
reputable pet store chain. They will
take our kittens and pups and
promote them as SPCA Special
Animals. This has already achieved
several ends. Back yard breeders and
puppy mills are being frozen out of the
pet market, people are feeling great
about helping an SPCA orphan and we
now have 20 plus more ‘outlets’ for
our de sexed, vaccinated and microchipped babies. The next step will be
enabled off site adoptions of adult
animals in the pet store environs –
more adoptions to a target audience!
What would you do differently?
Nothing so far – I just wish I had
started sooner. This is really feeling
as though it is a culture change whose
time has come.
What was your biggest disappointment?
When, having put so much in place to
reduce the kill rate it wasn’t working –
at least not quickly or effectively
enough. Now we’re cooking!
When did you realize you were
succeeding?
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would otherwise have died and that
is so precious that you don’t look for
anything else. But the Henry Bergh
Award also gives us a chance to
highlight the importance of what we
are doing here and we will use it
both within our organisation and to
the wider public to promote the
importance of Saving Lives and thus
increase its chances of success.
What are your plans and goals for
the future?
To make New Zealand the first No
Kill Nation of course.
But immediately, by next May, to
have achieved that no animal
coming to an SPCA throughout New
Zealand is killed for lack of space –
that looks very much achievable
already. Then to drive our kill rate
down below 20% nationwide by
2012.
When, straight after National
Conference where I exhorted SPCAs to
share their successes and ask for help
to achieve what we were asking of
them, I had centres ringing and
emailing, telling me of their Saving
Lives initiative and more asking for
help!
What does this award mean to you?
Being recognized by an American
award is ‘important’ here in New
Zealand – it really means something
special and is a great honor.
And finally to secure funding
streams to both SPCA National and
our SPCA centres throughout the
country that are robust and match
the tasks prescribed to ensure
Saving Lives is maintained and
entrenched.
What was the most surprising thing
you learned along the way?
That my leadership really matters –
and that an organisation that has
been established more than 125 years
in New Zealand can absorb and effect
a huge culture change really quickly
and with a great deal of joy.
Robyn Kippenberger will lead a
workshop on leadership at No Kill
Conference 2011.
The reward for this work is the lives of
all the animals we save daily now that
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Interview conducted by Atlanta Animal
Welfare Examiner Valerie Hayes.
Reprinted with permission. This is an
excerpt. To read the whole interview,
go to www.examiner.com/animalwelfare-in-atlanta/valerie-hayes
A Voice for Compassion
Assembly Member Kellner wanted to
make sure it never happened again.
But the large national organizations,
including the ASPCA, Best Friends
Animal Society, and the Mayor’s
Alliance for NYC Animals, either failed
to support the bill and/or tried to
derail it as a threat to their
fundraising, their power, and their
reputations. And they succeeded.
In fact, over 14,000 animals rescue
groups would have saved are instead
dead since Oreo’s Law was defeated.
But Kellner has vowed to bring the bill
back this year.
I
f an award could be given out to
the bravest and most giving
people in this movement, it would
be rescuers and shelter volunteers.
They not only sacrifice their time and
money, they are the backbone of
lifesaving in this country and often
receive nothing but scorn from the
national leaders who take credit for
their work and from the shelters who
benefit from their largesse.
In 2010, New York State Assembly
Member Micah Kellner fought for
Oreo’s Law, a bill named after an
abused dog killed by the ASPCA
despite offers to save her from other
organizations. Her case was not
isolated.
According to a statewide survey, over
70% of rescue groups have been
turned away by NYS shelters which
and kill the very animals the rescue
groups offered to save. By some
estimates, 25,000 animals rescue
groups are willing and able to save are
instead killed each and every year.
At great personal and emotional cost,
but out of great love and compassion,
they spend their days at a place where
they are often not wanted and in fact
mistreated, a place that is the hardest
for them to go because they care so
much: a regressive pound where they
are forced to watch animals neglected,
abused, suffer, and die.
But most of them operate under the
radar and there are too many of them
to highlight. So we have to award
others, bearing in mind that the work
of people we award would be
meaningless if not for the rescuers
and volunteers. 2010 was the year of
great successes in the movement. It
was the year of No Kill success in
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Michigan, Kentucky, California, New
York, and elsewhere.
Thanks to social media, the internet,
smarts, good deeds, good sense, and
even just good writing, the voices for
the No Kill movement multiplied
exponentially. And while a lot of new
faces and new people became national
No Kill figures, most notably and not
without good reason, one voice for
compassion towered above all, a
champion of an abused and betrayed
dog, a defender of rescue groups, an
advocate for shelter volunteers: the
Honorable Micah Kellner.
While the large national organizations
could not summon the courage to
champion the animals and their
rescuers, even though that is the very
core of their mission, a state assembly
member from the very district that
includes the ASPCA, the Mayor’s
Alliance, and the New York City
fundraising office of Best Friends,
Assembly Member Kellner did just
that.
And given that he was the assembly
member for their district, it could not
have come from someone who had
more to lose in doing so. His
courageous introduction of Oreo’s Law
was the single, most powerful act of
2010 to combat the humane
movement’s corruption. And when the
NYC pound retaliated by subverting
Federal Civil Rights law in order to try
to silence volunteers, he fought back
on their behalf, too.
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questions and dilemmas, many of
which are being raised by the public in
communities across the country.
At the very least, shelters who kill,
particularly those which kill large
numbers of animals, are obligated to
ensure that employees are technically
proficient, competent, skilled,
compassionate, properly trained, and
doing everything in their power to
make sure the animals are as free
from stress and anxiety as possible.
The use of a gas chamber does not
allow this.
Ban the Gas Chamber
Some shelters say that "while sodium
pentobarbital injection is the preferred
method of killing dogs and cats in
shelters, gas systems are acceptable if
used correctly or for other species of
animals." Those shelters are dead
wrong. We call for their ban.
W
ebster’s dictionary defines
euthanasia as “the act or
practice of killing or
permitting the death of hopelessly sick
or injured individuals in a relatively
painless way for reasons of mercy.”
Unfortunately, in most shelter
environments, animals are not solely
being killed because they are
hopelessly sick or injured, but rather
as “population control.” In this
environment, shelter killing—
particularly of healthy and treatable
animals—raises a host of ethical
A “relatively painless” death can only
occur in an environment where
sensitivity, compassion, and skill,
combine with efforts to minimize
distress and anxiety. By contrast, gas
systems take time to kill—during
which animals experience distress and
anxiety, and can struggle to survive.
They can result in animals surviving
the gassing, only to suffer even more.
And they take longer to kill if animals
are young, old, or have respiratory
infections, which is common in some
shelters. They are designed for the
ease of shelter workers, not care and
compassion for the animals.
The use of such systems to kill
animals is universally condemned by
humane advocates and progressive
shelters, and has been outlawed for
dogs and cats in several states
including New York and California.
According to Dr. Michael Moyer,
V.M.D. from the University of
Pennsylvania College of Veterinary
Medicine:
“There is no progressive sheltering
agency of any scope or stature willing
to philosophically embrace gas
systems for the killing of any species
of animals.
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about and begin implementing the
programs and services of the No Kill
Equation.
No Kill Webinars
Topics will include reforming animal
control, turbocharging adoption
programs, building a volunteer and
foster care program, non-lethal
community cat initiatives, using
legislation and litigation to save lives,
and much more.
Can’t come to the No Kill Conference?
We’ll bring it to you... every month.
A
nimal Ark, Minnesota’s premier
No Kill shelter, and the No Kill
Advocacy Center will be teaming
up to offer a monthly series of lowcost web-based seminars to help
shelters, rescue organizations, private
citizens, and municipalities learn more
The interactive sessions will be hosted
by Nathan Winograd and Mike Fry
from Animal Ark and feature some of
the most successful shelter directors,
animal law attorneys, and advocates
in the USA and beyond. One Friday
afternoon each month, the webinars
will be streaming live to computers
worldwide.
For more information and/or to
register for the webinar, go to the
“What’s New” page of our website at
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The Truth Will Out
A message for No Kill Advocacy Center
Director Nathan Winograd
I
t will come as no surprise to
anyone with a television,
newspaper, or access to the
internet that the news of the last
couple months has been, until very
recently, dominated by the Wikileak
documents. I have encountered every
possible angle on that story, from
those focused on the enigmatic
founder of that organization, to the
impact on geopolitics, and finally to
the changing nature of news reporting
in light of unfiltered sources.
Those I have found most interesting
reevaluated current events as a result
of the information the memos
contained. It is refreshing and
instructive to learn what those in
positions of power throughout the
world are really thinking and doing—
laid bare in memos
of naked
unvarnished truth—
so different from
the carefully crafted
messages and spin
we receive from our
own politicians,
news outlets, and
other world leaders
in this so-called
“age of
information.”’
elected representatives to do what is
in our collective best interest. Putting
aside some voices who are never
satisfied, for a good many thoughtful
and genuinely concerned Americans,
government has become the “other” –
the enemy—rather than what our
founders intended: a government of
the people, by the people and for the
people. And that is why despite the
voyeuristic interest generated by the
Wikileak documents, notably absent in
the news is any discussion of their
“shocking” nature. Few of us are
surprised to see a different reality
than we have been led to believe
behind the curtains those memos
pulled back.
And that is why I believe that despite
its bitter edge, the cynicism of our age
comes with a silver lining. We are not
the naïve, drugged-up, mindless cogs
serving Orwell’s Big Brother. We are
Orwell’s heroic protagonist, Winston
Smith—awake to the true nature of
A recent poll
suggests that one
in three Americans
has lost faith in our
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reality, or rather the untrue nature of
the fabricated reality, around us. And
because the first step to fixing a
problem is recognizing that you have
one, that is good news. It is, in fact,
the very reason I wrote Redemption.
When I first went on my book tour in
2007, there were just a handful of
people with whom I could have
knowing conversation about what was
really killing five million animals a year
in our nation’s pounds. Everywhere I
went, and most of the conversations I
had with animal activists prior to the
release of that book generally
devolved into three unsupportable
myths: 1. how to make the public,
which was to blame for the killing,
more responsible; 2. how to get more
people to spay/neuter so as to end
“pet overpopulation;” and, 3. the need
for collaboration as the solution.
My personal experiences—both in San
Francisco and Tompkins
County and then as part of
my consulting work visiting
shelters nationwide—gave me
a unique perspective on these
issues, experiences which
with time evolved into an
understanding of both the
true causes of the killing:
misplaced blame coupled with
institutional uncaring and
inertia; and the true nature of
the antidote: changing the
way a shelter operated by
embracing and cooperating
with, rather than mistrusting
and punishing, the American
public.
It was, in fact, my trust in animal
loving Americans and my belief that if
they were armed with the truth about
what was really going on inside the
humane movement, that they would
inevitably demand change, which
inspired me to write my book, and tell
the “inside” story.
And I have not been disappointed. By
rejecting old dogmas that once
defined the paradigm under which we
all operated, and by holding
accountable those individuals and
organizations which claim to represent
the interests of animals but who, in
reality, have very different motives
and allegiances, grassroots No Kill
activists are re-orienting the humane
movement away from control and
killing, and back to compassion and
life-saving. We have rejected the
excuses. We have accepted—not
always without heartbreak—the bitter
reality that many of the emperors in
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rigor. But too many shelter directors
refuse to do so. Too many shelter
directors find killing easier than doing
what is necessary to stop it. Too many
are firmly grounded in killing and find
no ethical quandary with allowing
animals to remain in medieval
It is the truth, after all, and not our
barbarity in what would rival the
wishful thinking, that determines the
cruelty of 19th Century pounds, whose
course of history. Without it, we are
philosophy they continue
groping in the dark,
to embrace two centuries
fighting phantoms,
Truth
is
a
weapon
and
later.
and, as history as
truth
is
armor.
And
given
shown, misplacing
the entrenched forces we
Our animal shelter
our faith and
battle against, we need
system is broken. It is
allegiance in those
all the power and
draconian, it is filthy, it is
who abuse that trust
protection we can get.
uncaring, and it is
by undermining and
abusive. And standing in
misrepresenting our
the way of our immediate
cause, its solution,
achievement of a No Kill nation;
our urgency, and our unequivocal
standing in the way of the will of 100
determination.
million Americans who love and
cherish companion animals, are 3,000
I believe in telling the truth, however
regressive shelter directors and the
unpleasant it may be. Truth is a
large national organizations that have
weapon and truth is armor. And given
become wealthy and powerful by
the strong, moneyed, and entrenched
promising to help these animals, even
forces we must battle to achieve
as they protect and legitimize those
success, we need all the power and
directors.
protection we can get. And here is the
truth:
Only time will tell how long groups like
the Humane Society of the United
Today, the No Kill Equation remains
States will
the only hope for achieving and
maintain their
sustaining a No Kill nation for the
allegiance to
simple fact that it is the only model
their kill-oriented
that has had proven successful in
colleagues, to
creating No Kill in the United States. It
their antiquated
is a programs-based model that seeks
philosophies,
to change the way shelters operate.
and to their
failed models,
And it is a comprehensive model that
which holds
can result in the immediate overnight
them back from
achievement of No Kill in those
the success they
communities that implement it with
the humane movement have no
clothes. And after decades of killing
and decades of spin to justify it, all of
this became possible only when the
truth came to light.
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and this movement can achieve the
moment they decide to embrace it.
But the cost in animal lives demands
that we not wait for them to wake up
to this realization. If we are going to
achieve a No Kill Nation sooner rather
than later, we must come to accept
that our “friends” are in actuality our
enemies and we must stand up to
them. Five years ago, my saying so
would have been heresy. It now
hardly registers as controversial.
Except, of course, to those who
continue peddling the fiction that
killing is ok, it is challenging the killing
that is the problem and labels you
“divisive.”
people on our side, we have the truth.
And the truth will out.
Never surrender, never give in, never
doubt that we will succeed. A No Kill
nation is within our reach.
___________________
Join the discussion:
facebook.com/nokilladvocacycenter
We are told groups like HSUS are
changing, but that change comes
slowly. On the eve of 2011, 16 years
after the achievements in San
Francisco first showed us a
compassionate, life-affirming
alternative to traditional sheltering
models, this is what we know to be
true: every animal put to death in an
American animal shelter is being killed
because of the paradigm that those
organizations helped create. No
honest person can suggest we are on
the same team. And no
compassionate one can argue that the
miserly crumbs they offer to save
animals make us friends, rather than
adversaries.
After 16 years of waiting for them to
champion abolition of killing, we’ve
not a drop of patience for their miserly
gradualism left. But we outnumber
them by the millions. And not only do
we have the hearts and minds of the
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The No Kill Declaration
The Humane Society of the United
States was asked but refused to sign
the U.S. No Kill Declaration. In fact,
they continue to fight efforts to end
the killing of dogs and cats in shelters
and have gone so far as to call No Kill
“radical” and insisting on the right of
“shelters” to kill animals, even in the
face of readily available lifesaving
alternatives.
But almost 30,000 No Kill shelters,
rescue groups, and animal lovers have
signed it.
No Kill is a revolution. And behind
every revolution is a declaration—a
statement of grievances, and a listing
of rights and principles that
underscore our great hope for the
future. We assert that a No Kill nation
is within our reach—that the killing
can and should be brought to an end.
Join us in endorsing The Declaration of
the No Kill Movement in the United
States. Add your name at
nokilldeclaration.org.
I. Preamble
O
ne hundred and fifty years ago,
societies for the prevention of
cruelty to animals and other
humane organizations were founded
to establish standards for humane
treatment of animals, to promote their
rights, and to protect them from
harm. This marked the formal
beginning of the humane movement in
the United States.
The scope and influence of these early
humane organizations were testament
to the public’s concern for animals. It
did not take long for them to set their
sights on the abuse of homeless
animals and cruel methods of killing
by public pounds. It was common
practice at the time for city and town
dogcatchers to beat, drown, or shoot
homeless animals.
Many humane agencies responded by
entering into animal control contracts
with towns and cities to ensure that
the killing was done more humanely.
But in taking on municipal animal
control duties, these agencies
abandoned their lifesaving and lifeenhancing platforms when those
beliefs conflicted with their contractual
responsibilities. In the current era,
where laws require killing by even
more “humane” methods, these
contradictions have become starker.
Increasingly, the practices of both
humane societies and municipal
animal control agencies are out of
step with public sentiment. Today,
most Americans hold the humane
treatment of animals as a personal
-16-
from their responsibility to protect
animals, and a point of view that we,
as caring people and a humane
community, can no longer accept or
tolerate.
We assert that a No Kill nation is
within our reach—that the killing can
and must be brought to an end. It is
up to each of us working individually
and together to implement sheltering
models that have already saved tens
of thousands of animals in progressive
communities. If we work together—
with certainty of purpose, assured of
our own success, with the
commitment that “what must be done,
will be done”—the attainment of our
goals will not be far off.
II. No Kill Resolution
value, which is reflected in our laws,
cultural practices, the proliferation of
organizations founded for animal
protection, increased per capita
spending on animal care, and great
advancements in veterinary medicine.
But the agencies that the public
expects to protect animals are instead
killing more than five million animals
annually.
Lifesaving alternatives to the mass
killing of animals in shelters have
existed for decades. These lifesaving
methods are based on innovative,
humane, nonlethal programs and
services that have proven that the
killing can be brought to an end. Too
many of these agencies, however,
remain mired in the kill philosophies of
the past, unwilling to or hampered
from exploring and adopting methods
that save lives. This is a breach of
their public trust, a gross deviation
Whereas, the right to live is every
animal’s most basic and fundamental
right;
Whereas, societies for the prevention
of cruelty to animals and other
humane organizations were founded
to establish standards for humane
treatment of animals, to promote their
rights, and to protect them from
harm;
Whereas, traditional sheltering
practices allow the mass killing of
sheltered animals;
Whereas, every year shelters in the
United States are killing millions of
healthy and treatable animals who
could be placed in homes, and are
also killing millions of feral cats who
do not belong in shelters;
Whereas, life always takes precedence
over expediency;
-17-
Whereas, the No Kill
movement in the United
States has successfully
implemented new and
innovative programs that
provide alternatives to mass
killing;
Whereas, lifesaving change
will come about only if No Kill
programs are embraced and
further developed;
Whereas, failure to implement
No Kill programs constitutes a
breach of the public’s trust in
the sheltering community;
Now, therefore, be it resolved that No
Kill policies and procedures are the
only legitimate foundation for animal
sheltering; and,
It is incumbent upon all shelters and
animal groups to embrace the
philosophy of No Kill, to immediately
begin implementing programs and
services that will end the mass killing
of sheltered animals, and to reject the
failed kill-oriented practices of the
past.
III. Statement of Rights
Taxpayers and community members
have a right to have their government
spend tax monies on programs and
services whose purpose is to save and
enhance the lives of all animals;
Taxpayers and community members
have a right to full and complete
disclosure about how animal shelters
operate.
IV. Guiding Principles
We acknowledge the following:
Sheltered animals have a right to live;
Feral cats have a right to their lives
and their habitats;
Animals, rescuers, and the public have
a right to expect animal protection
organizations and animal shelters to
do everything in their power to
promote, protect, and advocate for
the lives of animals;
Animal protection groups, rescue
groups, and No Kill shelters have a
right to take into their custody
animals who would otherwise be killed
by animal shelters;
No Kill is achieved only by
guaranteeing the following:
Life to all healthy animals, and to all
sick, injured, or vicious animals where
medical or behavioral intervention
would alter a poor or grave prognosis;
The right of feral cats to live in their
habitats.
These conditions can be achieved only
through adherence to the following:
-18-
Shelters and humane groups end the
killing of healthy and treatable
animals, including feral cats;
Shelters are held accountable for and
make information publicly available
about all the animals in their care.
Every animal in a shelter receives
individual consideration, regardless of
how many animals a shelter takes in,
or whether such animals are healthy,
underaged, elderly, sick, injured,
traumatized, or
feral;
V. No Kill Standards
The implementation of these lifesaving
procedures, policies, and programs
must be the immediate goal of every
shelter, and animal
control and animal welfare
Every animal
agency:
Shelters and
in a shelter is entitled to
humane
Formal, active
individual consideration,
organizations
commitment by shelter
regardless of whether
discontinue the
directors, management,
such animals are healthy,
use of language
and staff to lifesaving
underaged, elderly, sick,
that misleads the
programs and policies,
injured, traumatized,
public and glosses
and dedication to
over the nature of
promptly ending mass
or feral;
their actions, such
killing of shelter animals;
as “euthanasia,” “unadoptable,”
“fractious,” “putting them to sleep,”
Immediate implementation of the
and other euphemisms that downplay
following programs by all publicly
the gravity of ending life and make
funded or subsidized animal shelters:
the task of killing easier;
High-volume, low- and no-cost
Shelters are open to the public during
spay/neuter services;
hours that permit working people to
reclaim or adopt animals during
A foster care network for underaged,
nonworking hours;
traumatized, sick, injured, or other
animals needing refuge before any
Shelters and other government
sheltered animal is killed, unless the
agencies promote spay/neuter
prognosis for rehabilitation of that
programs and mandate that animals
individual animal is poor or grave;
be spayed or neutered before
adoption;
Comprehensive adoption programs
that operate during weekend and
Public shelters work with humane
evening hours and include offsite
animal adoption organizations to the
adoption venues;
fullest extent to promote the adoption
of animals and to reduce the rate of
Medical and behavioral rehabilitation
killing;
programs;
Shelters provide care and treatment
for all animals in shelters to the extent
necessary, including prompt
veterinary care, adequate nutrition,
shelter, exercise, and socialization;
Pet retention programs to solve
medical, environmental, or behavioral
problems and keep animals with their
caring and responsible caregivers;
-19-
Trap-Neuter-Return or Release (TNR)
programs;
Rescue group access to shelter
animals;
Volunteer programs to socialize
animals, promote adoptions, and help
in the operations of the shelter;
Documentation before any animal is
killed that all efforts to save the
animal have been considered,
including medical and behavioral
rehabilitation, foster care, rescue
groups, neuter and release, and
adoption.
An end to the policy of accepting
trapped feral cats to be destroyed as
unadoptable, and implementation of
TNR as the accepted method of feral
cat control by educating the public
about TNR and offering TNR program
services;
An end to the use of temperament
testing that results in killing animals
who are not truly vicious (e.g.,
shy/timid cats and frightened dogs)
but who can be placed in homes, or
are feral cats who can be returned or
released;
Abolishment of trapping, lending traps
to the public to capture animals, and
support of trapping by shelters,
governments, and pest control
companies for the purposes of
removing animals to be killed;
An end to owner-requested killing of
animals unless the shelter has made
an independent determination that the
animal is irremediably suffering or
cannot be rehabilitated;
The repeal of unenforceable and
counter-productive animal control
ordinances such as cat licensing and
leash laws, pet limit laws, bans on
feeding stray animals, and bans on
specific breeds.
-20-
A Third Door
A
n article in a Milwaukee, WI
newspaper highlights a
sanctuary that cares for animals
who would have faced certain death in
animal shelters: a blind dog with brain
damage who was savagely beaten, a
paralyzed Chow, a tabby cat also the
victim of cruelty. According to the
article, the animals are well cared for,
loved, enjoy a good quality of life, and
are even described as playful and
“content.” It is heartwarming. But not
everyone is applauding.
As usual, the animal sheltering world
criticizes it. At issue is not the quality
of the animal’s care. Although they
are trying to sound benign, saying
that the resources used to care for
these animals are better spent on
spaying and neutering or on more
easily to place through adoption
animals; once again, the voices of
tradition are chanting “kill, kill, kill.”
They do this, while ignoring the fact
that saving lives is not zero-sum and
compassion is not limited. We can do
all three (spay/neuter, adopt out
savable animals, and provide lifetime
care and hospice to those who need
it).
Calling for more killing and criticism of
lifesaving efforts is, once again, their
default point of view. It doesn’t matter
how caring people are towards
animals, it is irrespective of our efforts
to be kind, and it ignores the call of
compassion. They continue to preach
a defunct philosophy represented by
the 19th Century policy of the Animal
Rescue League of Boston:
We keep all dogs we receive,
unless very sick or vicious, five
days; then those unclaimed are
humanely put to death except a
limited number of desirable
ones for which we can find good
homes. We keep from twenty to
thirty of the best of the cats
and kittens to place in homes
and the rest are put to death…
We do not keep a large number
of animals alive…
This policy is not limited to the 19th
Century ARL of Boston. They just
happened to memorialize in writing
the effective policy of most shelters at
the time. It is illustrative of what the
national policy was then, and
shockingly what remains policy to this
very day in far too many communities
and in far too many shelters. That we
are living in the 21st Century and this
hasn’t been eradicated as easily as
many shelters eradicate the animals is
nothing short of a tragedy and a
travesty. But with this viewpoint either
supported or legitimized to some
degree by the large national groups…
no act of kindness by people like those
who operate the sanctuary described
in the Milwaukee Sentinel article goes
unpunished by those with a darker
agenda.
Once again, we need to find our
inspiration elsewhere. Once again, we
need to ignore the Naysayers. Once
again, they get it wrong. Sanctuaries
-21-
In the No Kill paradigm, shelters save
over90% of all impounded animals.
Communities across the country and
abroad have shown that upwards of
98% of all impounded animals are
savable. This includes feral cats. It
includes blind, deaf, animals missing
limbs or paralyzed animals because
these animals are considered
“healthy” or in the parlance of the
day, “adoptable.” According to the No
Kill Advocacy Center’s lifesaving
matrix:
are vital, and their importance is going
to continue to grow. This is something
we should all support and applaud. As
stated in the Sentinel article:
But others say it plays an
important role, especially as the
no-kill movement gains
momentum. "This is where I
think Home for Life is ahead of
the curve," said Nathan
Winograd, founder of the No Kill
Advocacy Center and author of
the book "Redemption: The
Myth of Pet Overpopulation and
the No-Kill Revolution in
America." "As the no-kill
movement becomes dominant,
we're going to start to have
ethical debates about those
animals at the margins. But
that doesn't mean we have to
wait to save those animals,"
Winograd said. "If someone is
willing to take care of these
animals- even if it's not a
traditional home - and it's
funded with private dollars,
what's wrong with that?"
An animal does not have to be
cute and cuddly or easy to place
to meet this definition [of
healthy]. Healthy is not the
same as easy to adopt. The
animal may be blind, deaf, old,
or missing a limb. But as long
as the animal is healthy, she
meets the definition [of
savable].
All of these animals can and should be
adopted. But do we need to kill those
remaining? Is it ethical to kill
aggressive dogs or even hopelessly ill
or injured animals who still have
quality of life, at least for some time?
No one wants hopelessly ill or injured
dogs and cats kept alive while
irremediably suffering, because that is
cruel. No one wants truly vicious dogs
adopted into the community, because
that is dangerous. And while over 90
percent of dogs and cats entering
shelters are neither hopelessly
suffering nor vicious, we shouldn’t be
satisfied with killing the remainder.
Because, truth be told, some of those
in the remaining seven or eight
percent are not suffering. And as long
as they are not suffering, their killing
raises a host of ethical issues. In fact,
not only are some “unadoptable”
animals living without pain, they enjoy
-22-
a good quality of life and can continue
to do so, at least for a time. These
include FeLV-positive cats. It includes
animals in the early stages of renal
disease. It even includes some
aggressive dogs.
The fact that shelters cannot and
should not adopt out vicious dogs, for
example, does not mean that their
killing isn’t ethically problematic…
Right now, our great challenge in
sheltering is between No Kill
advocates who seek to modernize
shelters and make them more
progressive, and the voices of archaic
tradition (“killing is kindness”). After
the latter voices are silenced and No
Kill’s hegemony is established, we will
then have to confront other ethical
quandaries within our own philosophy.
These ethical quandaries (e.g., killing
dogs who are aggressive but can lead
happy lives in sanctuaries, giving
animals hospice care as opposed to
what we call “mercy” killings in
shelters) will become more paramount
and [we] look forward to those
debates. Because, at the end of the
day, we deceive ourselves
when we think our ethical
cost/benefit analysis will
not change as our
movement grows, as
animals become further
integrated into our
communities, and as our
society evolves to have
greater compassion
towards animals.
favor death for animals in shelters.
And when others act with kindness
and compassion by refusing to add the
ultimate insult (killing) to animals who
have already faced a life of injury,
they criticize the effort. The people
who are supposed to be the animal’s
protectors would take that blind pup,
or paralyzed Chow, or abused tabby
cat described in the article and simply
kill them. It is the height of obscenity.
And it begs the question: Why is
saving lives controversial? But, alas, in
an Orwellian shelter world where
groups like HSUS and PETA tell us, in
some variation or another, that “killing
is kindness,”, “killing is not killing,”
and even that “killing is a gift,” it is.
That is why [it was] said in the
Sentinel article that the sanctuary is
“ahead of the curve.” They, like other
sanctuaries, have opened “the third
door” between adoption and killing. It
was also said this in [the] book,
Redemption: “killing is also being
challenged by sanctuaries and hospice
care groups, a movement that is also
growing in scale and scope and which
But instead of leading us
to a more ethical future,
the nation’s shelters and
large “animal welfare”
groups are the nation’s
leading voices of
draconian policies which
-23-
all compassionate people must
embrace.”
That we have not rigorously debated
these issues as a movement does not
mean we have to wait to save those
animals. We should all be working
fervently to keep that door open. We
must always support compassion
whenever it presents itself, especially
when it gives meaning to an animal’s
right to live—even when that right is
not supported by the groups who
(falsely) claim to be the standard
bearers of our relationship to animals,
[but which instead are] complacent
about shelter killing or mired in the
failed philosophies of the past.
And thankfully, the public shares our
view and supports this vital and
important work. Not only do
approximately 165 million dogs and
cats share our homes and not only are
we spending $50 billion per
year on their care and
comfort, but giving to animal
related charities has become
the fastest growing segment
of American philanthropy.
Indeed, the average
American is far more
progressive about dogs and
cats than every animal
welfare and animal rights
organization in the United
States, with rare exception.
the small percent of animals who are
not irremediably suffering and need a
third door between adoption and
killing.
Gaining their support is a non-sequitur
because we already have it. While the
voices of tradition chant “kill, kill, kill,”
most dog and cat lovers, armed with
the facts, find it abhorrent.
Nathan J. Winograd is the author of
Redemption: The Myth of Pet
Overpopulation & The No Kill Revolution in
America. You can find out more at
www.nathanwinograd.com. He is also the
Director of the No Kill Advocacy Center.
This article was first published in the
No Kill Blog at nokillblog.com.
Reprinted with permission.
But at the end of the day, it
is not about how much we
spend, how many animals
share our homes, or even
about what we seek. We
don’t need to win the hearts
and minds of the American
public either for No Kill to
save upwards of 98% of the
animals or for lifetime
care/hospice sanctuaries for
-24-
Reforming Animal Control
Redemption and Irreconcilable
Differences.
The companion CD has hundreds of
documents including materials from
both No Kill Conference 2009 and
2010, and much more.
You can also download free guides,
model policies, and more on the
Reforming Animal Control page of our
website.
Learn more at the No Kill Advocacy
Center’s website at:
Get the tools you need for success…
T
he power to change the status
quo is in your hands. The No Kill
Advocacy Center’s Reforming
Animal Control/Building a No Kill
Community packet has the
information and tools you need to
achieve success in your own
community including copies of
facebook.com/nokilladvocacycenter
-25-
A No Kill Nation
A
National Tragedy. This year,
roughly 4,000,000 dogs and
cats will be put to death in our
nation’s animal shelters. Their only
“crime” is that they have no human
address. Others may be sick or
injured, but they could be saved with
little effort. Unfortunately, they, too,
will be killed. And still others are feral
cats who should never enter shelters
in the first place. But there is another
way.
A Reason for Hope. In the last decade,
several progressive shelters have put
into place a bold series of lifesaving
programs and services which have
dramatically reduced the death rate in
their communities. The resulting
success proves that there is a formula
for lifesaving, and that if we are to
achieve a No Kill nation, it is
incumbent upon shelters nationwide to
embrace the programs and services
which have been proven to save lives.
The No Kill Advocacy Center is the
nation’s first organization dedicated
solely to the promotion of a No Kill
nation. And it is the only national
animal welfare agency that is staffed
by people who have actually worked in
and created a No Kill community.
Join the Crusade. But the challenges
we face are great. From entrenched
bureaucrats who are content with the
status quo, to uncaring shelter
directors hostile to calls for reform;
from agencies mired in the failed
philosophies of the past to those who
have internalized a culture of
defeatism—the roadblocks to No Kill
are substantial, but not
insurmountable.
We have a choice. We can fully,
completely and without reservation
embrace No Kill as our future. Or we
can continue to legitimize the twoprong strategy of failure: adopt a few
and kill the rest. It is a choice which
history has thrown upon us. And a
challenge that the No Kill Advocacy
Center is ready to take on.
Your tax deductible contribution will
help us hasten the day when animals
find in their shelter a new beginning—
instead of the end of the line. Working
together, we can build an alternative
consensus to traditional sheltering
models—one which is oriented toward
promoting and preserving life. An
alternative which seeks to create a
future where every animal will be
respected and cherished, and where
every individual life will be protected
and revered.
No Kill Advocacy Center
6114 La Salle Ave. #837
Oakland CA 94611
Or make a secure online donation at
www.nokilladvocacycenter.org.
-26-

enews 2011 1

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